The Tourist Life

Hello! I have been in Sydney one week already. It feels like much longer since I have been so busy getting settled and sight-seeing. The last few days Charity and I enjoyed being tourists. Here's what we did:

On Thursday we took the ferry to Manly Beach. It was an incredibly beautiful 20 minute ferry ride through the harbor. Manly is a cute little beach town with lots of shops, restaurants, and beaches. The beach we went to was pretty- your typical beach feel and atmosphere. We walked along the shorline path to Shelly beach, which ended up being full of sea shells. Most were small but I was able to find a couple dozen nice ones. We took the ferry from Manly back during the evening, which was my favorite part of my entire week here in Sydney. We came back into the city at night- and the skyline, bridge, and opera house were all lit up. It was an incredible view and amazingly beautiful. We spent a long time taking pictures in Circular Quay with the bridge and the Opera House. This city impresses me on its cleanliness and pure beauty.

On Friday we headed to the Botanical Gardens and the Aquarium. The botanical gardens are massive, we were there for a couple hours and still didn't see the whole thing. We walked through a rose garden, took the jungle walk, made a wish around the wishing tree, and relaxed by a pond. Afterward we walked along the shore toward the Opera House and took more pictures with it and the bridge. I realize that once I leave I will probably have a hundred pictures of myself with both, but thats okay! We also took pictures of Roo (the stuffed kangaroo that Mel gave me) all around the city- it was actually really fun posing her in all the fun spots. While we were down there a huge cruise ship came into port and it was a cool thing to watch. We then went to the Sydney Aquarium- it was probably the nicest aquarium I have been too. I saw all sorts of fun animals, including a huge fresh water croc, sharks, penguins, manatees, sting rays, and icky eels.

Today Charity and I went to China Town and explore Paddy's Markets. Every Thurs-Sun a huge warehouse called Paddy's Markets opens- there are hundreds of tables of souveneers, clothing, etc. We walked around there and I got a few gifts- I plan on buying most of that stuff near the end of my time here.

I am looking forward to relaxing tomorrow after a long and busy week. Next week Charity and I are walking up the Sydney Harbor Bridge and I'm really excited.

Since the internet is so expensive here I am going to have to limit my blog posts to once maybe twice a week. I also won't be putting up as many pictures on facebook- so if you want to see some let me know and I can e-mail you on my Sydney e-mail account.

Love,
Becky